the kids are alright
by guiltylights
Summary: The graduated seniors come and visit the first-years they left behind, and things are all as they should be. – canon-compliant fic; third-year!first years.
_**[Time started: April 1 2016, 6:10pm; –]**_

 **I fell into volleyball hell like last week,** _ **so.**_ **This is completely and purely** _ **utterly**_ **self-indulgent trash, so expect absolutely no plot whatsoever.**

 **But c'mon, seriously. First! Years! As! Third! Years!** _ **I couldn't pass that idea up.**_

 **I have not yet read the manga though, at the time of writing this, so if anything I write doesn't corroborate with what the manga has advanced (because the manga is far ahead of the anime), I apologise.**

 **Please rate and review!**

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 **Title:** the kids are alright

 **Summary:** The graduated seniors come and visit the first-years they left behind, and things are all as they should be. – canon-compliant fic; third-year!first years.

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 _ **Spring in March, two years ago–**_

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 _Hinata Shouyou, as it turned out, was utterly unattractive when he cried._

 _The tears streamed endlessly, he made awful snorting sounds, and his eyes went all big and wobbly in that one way that kind of made him look like he was five years old. And the snot, oh god, the snot was flying everywhere, it kind of made Kageyama a little grossed out._

 _But when what Hinata was bawling his eyes out at was their third years' graduation ceremony, Kageyama couldn't find it within himself the heart nor the energy to yell at him, so all he did was to swallow and look away, his own eyes suspiciously damp._

 _It was graduation, and the third years were all leaving._

 _"H-hey now, Hinata, don't cry," Sugawara tried reassuring, a little alarmed, "it's not as bad as you think – we'll still come back and visit often, you know?" Sugawara's tone was motherly and placating – just like it had been, for as long as Hinata had known him, and Hinata just cried harder. Daichi and Asahi just stood a little awkwardly to the side, afraid of doing anything in this situation, and Kiyoko was as composed as always. All the third years held graduation diplomas in their hands. They were really leaving._

 _"B-but it won't be the same," Hinata blubbered, sniveling, "you'll be at different schools and I won't get to see you in hallways or come to any of you for volleyball advice o-or anything!" Hinata wiped his nose with his sleeve, the snot smearing, and Kageyama wrinkled his nose only a little._

" _And worse of all," Hinata wailed, "we won't be teammates anymore!"_

 _Everybody stiffened, the first years, the second years, the thirds._

 _This, this was the elephant in the room that nobody wanted to mention – the fact that they wouldn't be a team anymore. That they wouldn't play on the same side together anymore. That their team dynamics were, officially, never ever going to be same, anymore. The ugly truth hung unspoken over their heads, thick like grey storm clouds, heavy and unrelenting, and to hear Hinata say it out loud like that with no mincing or no hold-backs made it clap loud in their ears, booming like a thunder-shock, and this was it. This was it._

 _Around them, the sound of milling third years was deafening. Chatter scratched against their ears, buzzy like static, yet the air in their circle hung still and dead. Ennoshita looked solemn. Tanaka and Nishinoya were silent, for once. Yamaguchi's face was drawn and long, and Tsukishima looked down to the side. Yachi had tears in her eyes. Everybody simply silently stared at Hinata, who was still sniveling._

 _From behind Hinata, Kageyama stared at the curve of Hinata's cheek, watching a tear streak down it like an arc. The atmosphere was suffocating. He couldn't stand it._

 _But then, from behind, Daichi stepped forward. He laid a strong, firm hand on Hinata's shoulder, and his face was serious. "You're right. Things are going to be different." Daichi spoke to Hinata, but it felt like he was addressing the whole team, his back straight, his voice assured. Daichi Sawamura, the leader, the foundation, the ex-captain of the Karasuno volleyball team. "But that doesn't mean things aren't going to be fine anymore. Things are always changing. We can't stay forever, that much is true._

" _But we were a team, before, weren't we?"_

 _The mood shifted; Hinata lifted his head. So did everybody else, and Daichi looked around to stare everybody in the eye._

 _"We were a team before. We were a good team. A great team, even, and you can't discredit that. We're leaving now, but our legacies – all of you – are what we are leaving behind. You're going to burn a trail, with Karasuno stamped across your backs. I can feel it. I know it." Daichi smiled, strong and steady and assured._

" _We're Karasuno; we're going to fly._

 _And you guys," Daichi finished, "are going to finish what we started."_

 _Overhead, crows took off to the sky in a flurry of ruffled black wings._

 _Hinata wasn't crying anymore. The rims of his eyes were red, and tears still clung to his eyelashes, but he stood as tall as his height will allow, and his eyes burned resolute. "Yes!" He shouted, loud and clear, in obedience to the final order of his first year captain, his leader, and everybody understood._

 _From behind Daichi, Asahi and Sugawara and Kiyoko relaxed, and smiled; Tanaka and Nishinoya were grinning again, identical in their brash mischief and confidence, and Ennoshita was smiling and calm. Yamaguchi was smiling too. Tsukishima didn't look any different, but he glanced at the third-years out of a corner of his eye, and his shoulders relaxed. Yachi looked relieved. And Kageyama – Kageyama didn't know what he was feeling. A strange emotion surged in his chest, looking at his third-year seniors: Asahi's gentle timid smile, Sugawara's reassuring grin, Kiyoko's little upturn of the lip, Daichi's face full of absolute confidence. Kageyama didn't know what to feel._

 _The clock in the school chimed. Daichi glanced up at it._

 _"We have to go now," he said, the meaning in his words thicker than they'll ever be, and he turned away from Hinata to clap a hand on Ennoshita's shoulder. "Make sure all these idiots don't kill themselves over the next year; they're stupid, and you're going to be the one that has to keep them in check. Make sure they don't die."_

 _Ennoshita's face scrunched up with an unnameable emotion, and Ennoshita snapped into a salute. "Yes, captain!" He shouted, even as he began to cry._

 _"Wait, hold on," Hinata interrupted, "what do you mean, by stupid…?!"_

 _"Kiyoko-san!" Tanaka and Nishinoya yelled, running at said ex-manager at full speed, "please just scold us one more time!"_

 _"No, but," Hinata insisting, inching closer and closer to the increasingly more nervous Asahi, "what did he mean by stupid…?"_

 _"Kiyoko-san…!"_

 _Amid all the commotion and noise, Daichi turned away from Sugawara attempting to console Ennoshita, and walked towards Kageyama. Kageyama snapped to attention, nervous. Daichi smiled, unperturbed. "Don't worry; I'm not here to yell at you," he laughed, amused, and Kageyama only relaxed a little._

"… _I don't have the authority to do that anymore, anyway," Daichi added, almost absentmindedly, as he glanced around him, and the gaze that he cast around the familiar sight around him was almost nostalgic. Kageyama opened his mouth, as if to speak, his throat working for a few moments, but ultimately he only closed his mouth, frustrated. The words wouldn't come out._

 _Daichi was still taking in the sight around him, his lips curled into something fond, when he turned back to Kageyama. "Good luck for the next two years; make sure to make it to nationals, you got it? You guys too," Daichi said, nodding at Tsukishima and Yamaguchi, who stood a little ways to the side. Tsukishima didn't say anything, but simply adjusted his glasses._

 _Kageyama noticed that Daichi's eyes lingered on Yamaguchi a little longer than necessary, the gaze contemplative, but he didn't make comment on it._

 _Daichi raised his voice. "Oi, guys! We have to go now!"_

 _Everybody grumbled and complained, but slowly they started getting themselves together. Daichi stepped back._

" _Well then, we're going, now," Daichi said to everyone, lightly, his tone nonchalant as if they were simply parting at the end of a normal school day._

 _Asahi, Sugawara and Kiyoko all stood with him in front of the school gate, and the entire of the Karasuno volleyball team lined up to see them off. Hinata looked to be on the verge of crying again, his face scrunched up into something ugly, and Kageyama looked over next to him, and reached over to cuff Hinata on the head._

" _Ow! What was that for!" Hinata cried, clutching at his now throbbing head._

" _Stop crying, dumbass."_

 _And in the backdrop of the setting sun, the third-years walked out of the school gates for the very last time, their profiles a sharp dark figure against the light, four lone figures whose shadows stretched out wide on the pavement. Everybody was waving and cheering madly, shouting words of encouragement and good luck for the future, when Hinata cupped his hands to his mouth._

" _Good luck for wherever you're going in life!" He yelled, loud as a megaphone, and his sheer volume had Kageyama wincing._

 _The third years turned around, glanced at each other, and grinned. And then, slowly, Daichi raised a hand to the sky, his fingers spread out, and waved a silent wave goodbye._

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 _ **Summer in June, now–**_

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" _Hey, hey, did you hear?"_

 _"Huh, hear what?"_

 _"About the third-year Karasuno volleyball club members! Our senpais?"_

 _"The tall blond one, the scary glaring one, the short orange-haired one, and the ponytailed one, right? What about them? They seem pretty normal to me."_

 _"I mean, outside the court, sure. But y'know, they say that if you see them fighting, and if see them playing volleyball on the courts–_

 _"It's like watching a murder of crows take flight."_

–

"We haven't visited them in a few months, haven't we," Sugawara's voice came floating over the roar of train tracks, and his laughter was ringing but quiet. Outside the window, the sky hung bright and blue.

"Yeah, we haven't," was Daichi's reply, his mouth uplifted in a smile as he glanced out of the window. "But I wouldn't be worried, if they're anything like they were the last time we saw them.

"I wonder what they're up to."

–

The sound of squeaking shoes and the thuds of volleyballs against wood filled the seniors' ears as they approached Karasuno High School's gymnasium, and half of them smiled at the sound.

It sounded familiar, somehow; familiar like an old home you once lived in, and whilst the seniors have heard the very same sound of volleyballs hitting against flesh many times over the course of the last two years, it was only in Karasuno High's gym did it feel nostalgic like this.

Tanaka slammed the door, sliding it open with so much force that the door slid- _bang_ against the walls with a screeching metallic _clack,_ and he guffawed, his voice loud. "Heyyyyy, the _senpais_ are back! Did anybody miss u–" Then Tanaka was promptly cut off. With a volleyball.

To his face.

The gym, originally filled with the sounds of squeaking shoes and calls, now quieted down to a deathly silence as everybody stared at Tanaka at the doorway. Everybody watched as, as if in slow-motion, the red-green-and-white volleyball peeled itself off of Tanaka's face and dropped towards the ground, bouncing once, twice before rolling slowly away like a fugitive creeping slowly away from the scene of a crime. Tanaka's face was red. One could've heard a pin drop.

Asahi and Daichi were gaping. Sugawara had an almost pleasant look of awkwardness plastered onto his face, the look of a man who knew what was going to happen next but was polite enough to try and pretend it wasn't.

Nishinoya started bellowing with laughter.

Under Nishinoya's laughter, people heard a tiny strangled whimper; and as if on cue, everybody but Nishinoya swiveled their heads to look at the source of the noise, senior alumnae included. It was from a newcomer, a twitchy little first-year with a nervous demeanour, and he was staring straight at Tanaka with a decidedly terrified expression on his face. His trembling body curved into a serve position made it all too clear where exactly the ball had come from. Nishinoya's laughter continued. Everybody held their breaths.

A vein popped in Tanaka's tanned forehead. He reared up, mouth curled into his all-too dramatic sneer, nostrils flared, and Tanaka launched into his signature shitty trash-talk.

"Hey, you," he sneered at the paling little first-year, advancing as he took a few steps forward, "you've got a lotta nerve, serving a ball to my face like that–"

In all honesty, Tanaka's threats were a lot funnier than they were scary; half the time Tanaka never carries those threats out, but obviously the first year didn't know that. He looked like he was about to cry. Sugawara sighed.

 _Some things never change._

As Tanaka ranted on, a strong hand suddenly landed on Tanaka's shoulder, the fingers digging into flesh. Tanaka, seizing the opportunity to try his cool gangster act on someone else, immediately turned around, mouth working in a comically over-the-top sneer as he started to address the person behind him, but once Tanaka saw who it was, his mouth clamped shut. He started sweating.

Yamaguchi's smile was friendly, but there was a decidedly murderous aura behind it that had Tanaka flinching a little. That, and maybe the fact that the hand squeezing his shoulder seemed intent _on cracking it in half._

"Tanaka- _senpai,_ how nice of you to drop by," Yamaguchi said, still smiling, and the grip he had on Tanaka's shoulder tightened even more, if possible. Tanaka tried not to scream. "I see you've met some of the new members on the team. You're getting along nicely with them, _right_?"

Yamaguchi leaned forward a little, smiling all the while, and his face loomed like a leering demon mask.

This time, Tanaka _did_ scream, scrambling away from Yamaguchi like prey might from predator. He was sweating nervously. It was decidedly amusing.

"O-of course I am! Why wouldn't I be! Ha-ha…" Tanaka squeaked nervously, voice higher than usual, and his hands were held up in front of him like he was wary of attack. Backing away, he grabbed the bewildered first year in question, making him squeak, and hooked an arm around his shoulders, dragging him close while laughing nervously. "See? Best of friends! Right, first year?" He tried ruffling the boy's short dark locks, which only made the first year even more confused.

Yamaguchi's murderous aura, if anything, only deepened; he stared straight into Tanaka's eyes.

A minute later, and Tanaka was prostrating on the ground, apologizing profusely.

Yamaguchi sighed, and leaned back; he ran a hair through his dark bangs, ruffling them and making them stick up a little with sweat. "Look, senpai, I don't mind you coming over and visiting, but you have to stop scaring the new team members like that. We need them to concentrate on practice, and that can't happen when you're here trying to pick a fight with everybody."

"Yes, Yamaguchi." Tanaka mumbled.

"Don't do it again."

"Yes, Yamaguchi."

Beside Sugawara, Daichi was laughing out loud. Both Sugawara and Asahi glanced at him. "What's so funny?" Sugawara asked.

Daichi, still chuckling a little, put a hand to his chin. "No, I'm just thinking back to how Yamaguchi was like back when he was a first year; it's amazing just how far he's come." He was gazing out towards the court.

The others followed his line of gaze. There, in the middle of the courts, was Yamaguchi, reassuring the first-year from just now and sending him off with a pat on the back. He was giving out pointers to the first years on serves now, gesturing towards the nets as he spoke.

Yamaguchi had changed a lot, in the last two years. He had filled out, the lines of his jaw becoming sharper, his muscles becoming more defined from volleyball. He had gotten a growth spurt, and whilst he still wasn't as tall as, say, Tsukishima, he was now a good few centimetres taller than he was two years ago. He'd grown out his hair too; some of it was tied into a ponytail at the top of his head, which gave him a cool, almost rebellious look – a look that was only emphasised by the black piercings in his ears, which gleamed under the gym lights. Gone was the shy, insecure Yamaguchi they had two years ago; in his place stood a confident, assured leader.

"Yes, he really has changed." Sugawara agreed.

On his shirt's back, the captain's number _one_ gleamed in white against the stark black background.

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 _ **Spring in January, one year ago–**_

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" _I want to make you captain, Yamaguchi," Ennoshita said calmly, looking at a Yamaguchi straight in the eye firmly. Yamaguchi could only gape. The ball that he had been in the midst of picking up dropped out of his hands, and rolled away._

 _"M-me?" Yamaguchi said in disbelief, pointing at himself. "Are you sure? What about Kageyama? He's the most talented player we have, he'd be up to the task. Or Hinata, maybe? Tsukki, too, he's logical and rational and–"_

 _"I want to make you captain, Yamaguchi," Ennoshita interrupted, repeating what he said again, folding his arms across his chest as if to emphasise his words. His words echoed in the gym, coiling around Ennoshita and Yamaguchi who were currently the only two people left on court. Everybody else had already gone home._

" _B-but," and here Yamaguchi looked truly lost, "why me?"_

 _Ennoshita tilted his head. "But why not you? You've got what it takes–" Yamaguchi opened his mouth to argue, "–and no, stop, let me finish. You've got what it takes. You know how to read a situation, and you know when to step in when it looks like things might take the turn for the worst. For example, you know how to stop Tsukishima and Kageyama from being too prickly with each other. You're good at communicating with the first-years, too, and you know how to make them feel at ease. Granted, your skills on the court might not be as good as Kageyama or Tsukishima in terms of ability and or rational thinking," and here Ennoshita smiled, "but that's not what a captain is supposed to do, anyway. It should be you, Yamaguchi."_

 _Still, Yamaguchi shook his head. "What about Kageyama? Hinata? Tsukki?"_

 _Ennoshita's smile turned wry. "Think about it, Yamaguchi. If I gave the position to say, Kageyama, he would turn the club into training hell within the week."_

 _A shudder ran through Yamaguchi. Ennoshita grimaced. "Kageyama means well, he just doesn't understand the limits of boundaries for normal people, which in this situation, could be a problem. And Hinata, well… his enthusiasm and energy would be good for pumping up the team, but I don't think he could do the more serious and tedious side of being captain, don't you agree?"_

 _Yamaguchi thought for a bit. Then he slowly nodded his head._

" _Exactly." Ennoshita agreed. "Besides, I think Hinata wants to be the ace more than he wants to be the captain, anyway. And Tsukishima, well… true, his logic and rationale might make him a level-headed captain, but he might scare off all the new first-years before he's had the chance." Ennoshita rolled his eyes. Honestly, he thought, my juniors are all a bunch of problematic kids._

" _So… that means me?" Yamaguchi asked, hesitantly._

" _Yup." Ennoshita turned back to the court and began taking down the net. "Of course, this is just my input; it's not final, the whole team still has to vote on whether they agree with the final choice. But, to tell you the truth, Yamaguchi, I think they probably will; everybody thinks you should be captain, you know."_

 _Yamaguchi was speechless. But he shook his head, "no, I appreciate the offer, but don't think I'm ready for the job–"_

" _You're the one most suited for the role."_

 _Yamaguchi and Ennoshita both turned to the gym doors in surprise. There, Tsukishima stood leaning back against the doorframe, black glasses perched on his nose, eyes out towards the sky. It was night out, outside, and the moonlight streaming in silhouetted Tsukishima in a silver glow._

" _Tsukki!" Yamaguchi exclaimed._

 _Tsukishima's eyes slid over sideways to look at Yamaguchi, eyes seemingly coolly disinterested, but Yamaguchi knew better. He could see the hint of seriousness in his eyes. "Out of the four of us, you're probably the one most suited to being captain, Yamaguchi."_

" _What's this about a captain?" Hinata asked, popping out from behind Tsukishima, peering curiously into the gym. His ruffled orange hair stuck out in all directions._

" _Who's going to be captain?" Kageyama asked, walking up to Hinata and peering into the gym as well, pushing Hinata's head down as he asked the question, ignoring the cries of outrage coming from the shorter one beside him._

 _Tsukishima looked a little irritated. He pushed up his glasses, but he answered the question anyway. "Ennoshita is thinking of nominating Yamaguchi as captain."_

 _Hinata popped out from underneath Kageyama's hand. "Ooh, Yamaguchi is gonna be captain?" He asked, eyes sparkling. He cheered. "Yeah, Yamaguchi should totally be captain! He'd be so cool!"_

 _Yamaguchi blinked. "Really?"_

 _Hinata nodded vigorously. "Yeah! You'd make a great captain, Yamaguchi!"_

 _"Yeah, you'd be the best captain out of the four of us." Kageyama told Yamaguchi, honestly, his eyes staring nonchalantly straight into Yamaguchi's surprised ones. There was no hint of a bluff in his voice; just a statement of what he thought was the honest truth._

 _Yamaguchi's breath seemed caught in his throat; Ennoshita glanced over at him, and saw to his mild surprise that Yamaguchi seemed to be overwhelmed with emotions. His face was scrunching up. Ennoshita smiled exasperatedly, relieved._

 _Tsukishima tilted his head to look at Yamaguchi. "Go be captain, Yamaguchi," he said, voice quiet. "We'll follow you."_

–

 _Two weeks later, just a month before the third years' graduation, a choice to make Yamaguchi next year's captain was announced._

 _The votings were unanimous._

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"Speaking of which, though," Nishinoya interrupted, looking around, "where are the other third years?"

Almost as if on cue, the door behind them slammed open, and the sound of bickering voices filled the air.

"Dumbass! It's your fault that we're late!"

"Bakageyama, how is it even my fault? _Both_ of us had failed the test!"

"Yeah, but if you hadn't made that smart-ass comment to the teacher, maybe she wouldn't have held us back so lat–!"

Kageyama and Hinata both shut up simultaneously when they realised who it was in front of them. Daichi could only stare at them, amusedly, with his eyebrow raised as they both turned red at the exact same time. _Honestly, these two,_ he thought in mock exasperation, _it's like I'm back in Karasuno all over again._

Out of the four current third years, probably Kageyama and Hinata had changed the least: their hairstyles were still the same, and they didn't have any extra piercings or accessories whatsoever. But they too, like Yamaguchi, had filled out: Kageyama had on a couple more centimetres, and his jaw was squarer, his shoulders broader. He no longer looked like his lanky first-year self, but instead, looked more like a man.

Hinata, woefully, did not gain any sort of height whatsoever (a fact he was sometimes bitter about), and he only reached up to just slightly above Kageyama's chin, but his muscles had grown more wiry, cords in his deceptively thin-looking arms and legs, and his jaw was slightly more angular. But despite the changes to his physical build, Hinata still stayed the same; his eyes were still bright and excitable, like a child's, and his smile was still happy like the summer sun. Some things really don't change.

He was smiled at them now, eyes bright, and Daichi, Sugawara, Tanaka and Nishinoya smiled back.

" _Guys!"_ He yelled, jumping about two feet up into the air, "you came actually to visit!" He was grinning so broadly, it looked like his face might split into two; but his enthusiasm was so infectious, everybody soon found themselves grinning along.

"'Course we did," Nishinoya was laughing obnoxiously, reaching out to ruffle Hinata's hair, "we promised that we would visit lots, didn't we?" and Hinata nodded enthusiastically. Before long, the both of them were off chattering animatedly about absolutely nothing in particular, with Nishinoya mostly just bragging and with Hinata hanging onto every word.

Standing next to Daichi, Kageyama gave an irritated sigh. "That guy really doesn't know when to shut up," he muttered.

Asahi gave a little laugh. "Oh, I don't know," he said, honestly, "he wouldn't be Hinata any other way." His gentle eyes cast itself over Hinata, the way an uncle would look fondly on an excitable nephew, and there was a little smile on his square hard features. Asahi was a study in juxtapositions like that.

Kageyama glanced over at where Hinata was _ooh_ -ing at some (probably fake) dramatic story Nishinoya was telling, and something akin to a look of reluctant acceptance passed over his features. "I suppose," he allowed.

He turned back and found Asahi, Daichi and Sugawara looking at him like he had grown a second head. "What?"

"A-ah, no it's nothing!" Sugawara snapped out of it first, laughing nervously. Daichi and Asahi followed suit.

Kageyama tilted his head, eyebrows drawn together, oblivious and slightly confused.

There was a snicker from behind them, low and slightly mocking, and Kageyama bristled like an angered cat. Sugawara knew whom it was before he even turned around. "My, my, you don't even know when you're being made fun of, are you, Kageyama?"

Tsukishima stood tall and brooding against the doorway of the gym, toeing off his shoes with his hands stuck into the pockets of his school uniform, and he was smirking, just a little bit. Sugawara sighed.

"What?" Kageyama growled, glowering.

Tanaka was pushing up his sleeves. "Still a smart-ass as always, huh, _Tsu-ki-shi-ma,_ " he sneered, as he tried advancing forward, being stopped only by Sugawara holding him back by the arms and with Asahi flustering to the side. "Somehow, looking at your face just makes me feel even more irritated–"

Yet Tsukishima and Kageyama acted like they didn't even hear him. Tsukishima and Kageyama stared each other down like two stray cats at a trash dump: Kageyama bristling, and Tsukishima smirking down at his direction. Tanaka struggled against Sugawara's lock hold in the corner, irrelevant.

"Um, don't fight, please!" A frantic high voice sounded out from behind Tsukishima, and everybody looked as a small face popped out.

Yachi stepped out from behind the gym doors, tucking a long strand of her blonde hair behind her ear as she adjusted the clipboard in her hand.

Yachi had changed, considerably so. She had grown out her hair; instead of its past short cut, it now fell just past her shoulders, the hair soft and straight. She still had bangs, but now instead of having a small side pony she often pinned up parts of her hair with cute clips, which helped to keep it out of her way during practice. Today she had on adorable star-shaped clips in place, keeping strands of her hair pulled away from her eyes, but for the most part most of her hair still hung loose. Yachi had ended up piercing her ears, too, and small crow-shaped studs glittered in her ears.

" _Hitoka-chan!"_ Nishinoya and Tanaka both chorused, adoring hearts in their eyes.

Daichi, Sugawara, Asahi, Tanaka, Nishinoya and Hinata all watched as Yachi walked forward and yanked Kageyama's and Tsukishima's t-shirt collars down. Then, without warning, she _bashed the two's heads together,_ making Kageyama yelp unattractively and Tsukishima grunt in pain.

"N-no fighting!" She said sternly, her eyebrows pulling together in an attempt to look serious as she placed her hands on her hips. She succeeded, somewhat, except for the fact that she still looked slightly anxious. "You guys need to learn how to set a good example for the first and second-years!" To the side, Hinata had started chortling.

Rubbing his head, Kageyama muttered, "the idiot that started it."

" _Hmmm_ , what was that, _Kageyama_? It's hardly my fault that your brain couldn't grasp such a simple _joke–_ "

 _"Do you want to die?!"_

 _"Anyway,"_ Sugawara interrupted Kageyama's and Tsukishima's conversation before it could get any worse, "why were you two late today?" He asked, addressing Tsukishima and Yachi.

Yachi blinked, her eyes wide and innocent. "The both of us had tutoring sessions," she answered honestly, her smile small but warm as she turned to Sugawara's direction.

Daichi blinked. "You guys are tutors?" He asked. "Wow, that's new."

Yachi nodded. "Since we're third-years now, we got assigned to some of the younger juniors who were struggling with their curriculum, in order to help them along. Tsukishima and I get rather good grades, which is why we ended up being selected. Usually the sessions don't interfere with practice though. It's just that today I was going through a particularly difficult topic with my student, and I had to stay back late to explain some more."

"Tutoring sessions ended late today for the both of us," Tsukishima added blandly, as he began with his warm-up stretches for practice, "my student was kind of an idiot who couldn't understand anything I taught him."

"There he goes, with his smart-ass attitude again," Tanaka said, his eyebrow twitching like Nishinoya's, as Daichi and the others gave rather wry smiles. Tsukishima stretched on, unperturbed. He ruffled his own blond locks at the nape of his neck as he straightened up from touching his toes, and went on to do arm stretches.

Over the years, Tsukishima had managed to hit the one-ninety cm mark in height, and now he easily towered over any of the other members in the team, the tallest member of the Karasuno volleyball club. Tsukishima hadn't really changed much, his glasses the same black-framed ones as always, but his hair had grown slightly longer. It was no longer the close-cropped cut like before, but now framed and fell around his face, softening the sharp hard lines of his jaw. He wasn't as filled out as, say, Kageyama, but he was tall and sure-footed, with lanky muscle hidden in his thin frame, and one could tell by looking at him that he was an athlete. His eyes were still as cool and detached as always. Daichi was willing to bet he still brought his headphones with him everywhere.

Yamaguchi, having now spotted them, came jogging over.

"You guys are late," he said, reproachfully, frowning at the other third-years' direction as he fixed his hands on his hips. He looked stern.

"Tutoring session ran late." Tsukishima repeated.

"The teacher held us back," Hinata answered truthfully, pointing at Kageyama and himself.

Yamaguchi sighed. "Okay, since this is the first time this has ever happened. But next time, try not to do it again."

"Ye-s," the other third-years chorused.

"Anyway," Yamaguchi continued, "we're about to have a practice match now, so hurry up and finish your stretching exercises and join us on the court." He turned away, grinning, and started jogging back to the first and second years, yelling orders as he went.

Daichi glanced at Sugawara and the others. They exchanged looks. Nishinoya and Tanaka were grinning.

"Hey, Yamaguchi," Daichi called, his voice booming.

Yamaguchi stopped, and turned around. Along with the other third-years, he stared at the seniors curiously. "Yeah?"

Daichi grinned. "You have room for five more players?"

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.

.

By the end of the practice, everybody was sweaty and heaving and exhausted.

Asahi was collapsed face-first on the ground, all life sucked out of him and he tried desperately to catch his breath. Daichi was panting. Sugawara was hunched over his knees standing up, chest heaving as he tried to find some way to breathe without feeling like his lungs were collapsing.

Only Tanaka and Nishinoya out of the five of them was anything resembling energetic, yelling and exclaiming about how awesome that practice match felt.

It had been a tough fight. In order to make things fair, Yamaguchi had order the seniors and third-years to split evenly between the two teams, making sure that the balance of power wasn't too severely skewed to one side. And both teams ended up finding themselves pretty evenly matched. The game had been hard for Yachi to follow, what with the scores constantly bouncing, and in the end Yachi had found herself being tired out from just watching the sets.

Sure, the third-years and seniors were a definite asset to their teams, whichever team they were on, but as talented as the seniors were, they were unused to playing with the first and second-years, which definitely led to a few mistakes. And Karasuno had some pretty talented first and second-years too. The nervous first-year that had slammed the ball into Tanaka's face from before turned out to be an excellent defender, and even had Daichi from the opposing team clapping his shoulder and praising him at the end of the day.

In the end, it was Yamaguchi's team with Tsukishima, Daichi, Sugawara and Tanaka that had won, by clinching the third set with nothing but a narrow two-point lead. But the three sets had dragged practice on for a good hour past the expected end-time, and now everybody was just plain exhausted.

Yamaguchi dragged himself up to his feet. "Okay, Karasuno!" He shouted, his voice a little hoarse, "let's pack up the gym, and then we can leave! Let's go!"

Groans met Yamaguchi's words, but everybody voiced their assent and began clearing up the gym, packing away the nets and rolling away the volleyball posts, tossing the balls back into storage. Yamaguchi stood, supervising, occasionally calling out for a second-year to hurry up or to shout out warnings of collision. He really was every bit of a captain.

"Is Ennoshita or Kiyoko-san with you today?" Yachi enquired politely, coming to stand beside Daichi as he took a long swig from his water bottle. It almost felt like old times. It's been a long time since Daichi had stood on the Karasuno gym court.

"Ah, no," Daichi replied, wiping sweat away from his neck with his t-shirt, "Ennoshita apparently had something else on today, and Kiyoko is busy studying for an upcoming test, so they couldn't make it. They promised to visit next time, though." Daichi hastily reassured Yachi.

"Oh, okay," Yachi said, humming, smiling a little to herself. "That's good." Her hair was tied up in a ponytail now, the hair swept off her shoulders. It was a good look for her, Daichi decided.

And apparently Tanaka and Nishinoya thought so too, because together they edged up to Yachi, making her squeak and clutch her clipboard to her chest. "Hitoka-chan, could you give me a hug?" Tanaka asked, very seriously, as he grabbed Yachi's hands and held them close to his (sweaty) chest.

Next to him, Nishinoya nodded sagely. "Yes, a hug, please – a hug from the cute Hitoka-chan would surely heal any man's wounds–"

"Huh – what – _huh_?" Yachi _eep_ -ed, startled.

Daichi appeared behind the two jokers and hauled them up, his face dark. "You two," he rumbled, murderous, "don't go around harassing Yachi–"

As Daichi went off on a huge lecture on the Tanaka and Nishinoya, said duo kneeling on the floor taking the scolding like properly abashed children, Sugawara laughed and turned to Asahi. "It feels like we're back in Karasuno again, doesn't it," he said, smiling.

Asahi, a little startled at the sudden conversation, nonetheless smiled. "Yeah, you're right," he agreed, looking around at the large gymnasium. "I can almost believe it's us who are going to go for the preliminaries in a few months."

Sugawara smiled a little bit, and turned to face where Asahi was looking. "Times sure have changed, though." He commented, lightly.

"Yeah."

Silence. A beat. Then:

"I bet you thought we were going to have some dramatic meaningful conversation, right?" Digging an elbow into Asahi's ribs, Sugawara grinned.

"Ow! Hey, what, n-no!"

.

.

.

 _ **Spring in March, one year ago–**_

 _._

 _._

 _._

 _"Hey, hey, Hinata, keep your chin up, things are gonna be alright," Nishinoya said, laughing, tapping the bottom of Hinata's chin upwards with his graduation diploma as he made Hinata look him in the eye._

 _Hinata wiped at his eyes. "I'm not crying," he mumbled, though it was obvious to everyone that he very clearly was. Kageyama rolled his eyes, and cuffed Hinata on the head. It reminded him of the time he did that very same thing, at the same time, just one year ago._

 _Tanaka started laughing, his laughter echoing. "Sure, sure, Hinata, yeah you aren't crying." Then he clapped both hands on Hinata's shoulders, making him squeak in surprise. "You're gonna be just fine, man," Tanaka said, grinning bright. "You guys are gonna be fantastic third-years, just trust me." He addressed the rest of the second-years now, nodding. His gaze landed on Tsukishima, and his expression soured, even though he said, "even shitty Tsukishima."_

 _Ennoshita elbowed Tanaka in the ribs, earning a squawk from the other boy. He walked past Hinata and went to Yamaguchi, and paused to glance up and down Yamaguchi's profile. "Man, you've shot up without half of us noticing," Ennoshita said, chuckling, before he shot him a determined look._

" _Keep Karasuno flying, Yamaguchi, you got me?" He said, grinning confidently, and Yamaguchi felt himself snapping into a salute. Just like Ennoshita had to Daichi, just one year before. "Yes!" He yelled out, staring at the sky, and Ennoshita chuckled._

 _He turned to the rest of the team, the four Karasuno second years, the five first-years, and a serious expression settled over his features._

" _Karasuno's been upholding a legacy ever since our comeback last year," he spoke seriously, steadily, gaze traveling from one member to the other as they all listened intently, "and you guys are the next generation in charge of pushing Karasuno to greater heights." And here Ennoshita paused, closing his eyes, and his memories of his past three years here flashed behind his eyelids. His second-year experience that changed his entire perspective, his first-time on the court, his time as the captain – everything. He opened his eyes._

" _Don't let us down, alright." He smiled._

" _Yes!" The remaining members of the Karasuno volleyball club yelled._

 _Tanaka and Nishinoya grinned; Kinoshita and Kazuhito hovered in the background; and Ennoshita closed his eyes again, and tilted his head to the sky. He reached up, palms out, and opened his eyes. Ennoshita watched the skies between the gaps of his fingers. He could hear the calling of crows. Ennoshita smiled._

 _And here, Ennoshita knew that he was leaving the club in the right hands._

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.

Over the sound of train tracks, Daichi and Sugawara could hear obnoxious snores from Tanaka and Nishinoya as they took a nap, tired after the long afternoon of activity. Asahi was draped quietly next to them too. It was going to be Asahi's stop soon. Daichi will have to wake him.

Sugawara's quiet voice broke Daichi's train of thoughts. "It sure was nice to see almost all of us together again, huh." He said.

Daichi smiled, a little. "Yeah. That's true."

"You're quiet today."

"Just thinking."

"Are you worried, about them? The third-years, I mean."

Outside, the sky was glowing evening-gold, sunlight polished like silk streams.

Daichi hummed. "Hm, no, not really. I think it's fine. Karasuno is still flying strong.

"They're going to be alright."

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* * *

 **OKAY NO BUT HAVE YOU CONSIDERED: VOLLEYBALL CAPTAIN YAMAGUCHI. THAT IS MY HEADCANON AND I AM STICKING TO IT.**

 **I was thinking about slipping some kagehina into the fic, but then ultimately decided against it because 1. I wanted to stay as close as canon to the anime as possible, and 2. That would require writing another huge chunk, and this fic is already an absolute monster. 6k+ words, guys. It's the longest thing I have ever fuckin' published.**

 **I tried my best in portraying the characters as how I saw them in the anime, but sometimes things ran away with me, so apologies.**

 **Also what? Is time? Chronology?**

 **Please rate and review! (Those things are cool.)**

 _ **[Time ended: April 2 2016, 6:30pm; –]**_


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